Reaper Embraced
by ElesaryAyres
Summary: The Drake Brothers have some spring cleaning coming up and the girls have volunteered to help, providing that by "spring cleaning" they mean Hel-Blar hunting, that is.
1. Chapter 1

Logan

January 28

1:53 AM

Despite all of his experience, I don't think even Quinn had had this one. I couldn't be sure, but I doubted he had ever picked his girlfriend up from the cave she lived in. I doubted even he had tried to convince said girlfriend that a normal date could be just as fun as practicing killing each other. I don't know why everyone called him the charmer of the family, when he had never had to convince his hound girlfriend to see a human movie at two- thirty in the morning.

"Get in the car, Isabaue." I ordered. "It'll be fun."

"I don't much like humans, and I think their "movies" are dumb." Isabaue protested, still pacing around the car. "Wouldn't you rather be training?"

"No I would not rather be training, you like Lucy just fine and you haven't even seen a movie so you cant exactly knock it." I leaned over the seat and opened the door. "So get in."

She did, but still looked vaguely worried. "Magda said-"

"I don't care what Magda said. Magda strongly dislikes me and I don't doubt she would say whatever she could to stop you from dating me. We can go back to our regular training schedule tomorrow, but for tonight, I want to enjoy a normal date."

"Alright." She agreed, but didn't exactly sound over enthused. I sighed, I had hoped this would go better than it was.

When we reached the theatre I bought tickets from a pimply boy who had seemed half asleep until he saw Isabaue, then he perked up. I didn't really blame him; she looked stunning in the navy sweater she had stolen from me and tight jeans. I honestly didn't think she knew just how beautiful she was.

She turned her head and caught me staring at her. "What is it, Logan?" she asked, head cocked to the side.

I smiled and wrapped a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You are beautiful." Her smile in response was small, but it held secret delight.

We found seats in the back of the theatre. She noted the exits and examined the other viewers. There weren't all that many. A few college students passing around a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag, an older gentleman who smelled of sorrow and a sleepy group of fifteen year olds out past curfew.

The movie was black and white and featured Paris in the fall, it was French, subtitled in English. Isabaue was instantly enraptured, and I preferred watching her watch the movie to actually watch it myself.

We watched everyone leave after the movie, caught in our own thoughts. The teenage girls stumbled out sleepily; the college students downed energy shots and began discussing a paper they still had to write. We followed them slowly back to the car, fingers linked and swinging between us. It had taken me ages to convince Isabaue that holding hands wasn't a "tactical disadvantage" when we weren't about to be in a fight.

"That was… surprisingly nice." Isabaue said as we got in the car. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Logan." She squeezed my hand and smiled at me softly.

"We aren't going home yet." I told her, shooting her a slanted look.

She looked at me, "What are we doing now?"

"That's for me to know…" I told her with a smirk, unwilling to divulge my secrets just yet.

I parked at my house and we ran through the woods playing tag and racing each other as we darted around trees. It was an exhilarating feeling that only vampires shared, exciting and freeing and it released the predator in us.

After a few miles I readjusted our direction and headed toward the hill that rose slightly above the tree line.

The grass was soft and long enough to create a cushion above the hard dirt. I anxiously watched Isabaue's face as we entered the clearing. She released a shocked gasp as she took in the scene before turning to look at me with her heart in her eyes. "Logan… it's beautiful."

A red-checkered blanket rested on the top of the hill, illuminated by the full moon and a lit candle, which sent flickering shadows against the woven basket that contained a decanter of fresh blood and two champagne flutes.

I would never tell Isabaue this but Quinn had suggested this whole evening when I told him I wanted to give her a night more meaningful than what we usually did. He and Nicholas had actually set the picnic up.

I smiled and grabbed her hand, leading her up to the blanket. I opened the basket and retrieved the crystal and warmed blood. A line of plastic squares caught my eye, _damn you, Quinn_ and I hissed, shutting the basket with more force than I had intended.

Isabaue looked at me with raised eyebrows, but didn't ask for an explanation. "My brother's an idiot," I told her, "But you knew that. Shall we?" I raised my glass as a toast. "To us!"

"To us!" she echoed, swallowing a mouthful of blood. After I drained my glass I lay down and looked at the stars. "How has the sky changed from when you were a child?" I asked Isabaue.

She leaned on her hands and kicked off her shoes before crossing her legs. I moved my head so it was pillowed in her lap, looking up at the sky. Her accent was soft as she pointed out the differences. "But I don't know whether that is time, or distance." She said after a moment.

I turned my head slightly to look at her. "But haven't you been back to France since you were turned?"

Isabaue's face turned wistful, "No, I haven't had the chance. But one day, I would like to go home."

"You will," I promised and could suddenly picture her on the streets of Paris, at little street corner cafés and small expensive boutiques. I could also picture us running through twisting alleys and climbing the Eifel Tower. In that moment I promised myself I was going to take her there sometime soon.

"Do you know the story of Shanon, the first Hound?" Isabaue asked. I shook my head and she pointed to the sky.

As I watched, the stars seemed to take the shape of a woman with hound by her side. Isaubaue's magic swept me away as I grew lost in the story she narrated for me in her soft, lyrical voice of unrequited love, betrayal and rebirth. I relaxed into her lap as she let her hand fall back to my hair after her story minutes- or hours- later.

A familiar odor drifted on the wind, and I felt Isabuae tense under me as she recognized it. "Hel-Blar," I hissed, rising slowly to my feet. Isabaue produced her sword form nowhere and blew out the candle.

I reached into the basket and withdrew the mini crossbow one of my brothers had placed inside.

"Let's try to get to the car." I told Isabuae, kissing her hard on her mouth before we ran into the woods.

They hit us hard from both sides, and we were instantly separated. One came at me, fangs snapping as I released the crossbows trigger directly into its chest. I swung into the powder in the same movement to retrieve my stake, which I plunged into the body behind me and continued running, shooting another stake into the mass behind me.

I heard Isabaue's victorious shout as she broke away from the pack. We sprinted back to the car, breathless with exhilaration. I laughed and swung her around before kissing her again, this time taking my time.

When we could hear the Hel- Blar behind us, we got in the car and drove away. I tossed Isabaue my phone. "Call my brothers, we need to let them know about this group." I hated that the Hel-Blar had attacked, I hated that I couldn't even give her a normal date without something going wrong. I hated that this was always going to be our life.

I pulled up at the road by the caves and gripped the steering wheel hard enough to make it squeak. "I'm sorry this didn't turn out the way it was supposed to." I said, staying focused on a particular tree outside the window.

Her small hand, callused from her sword caressed my cheek and turned my head so she could press her lips to mine sweetly. "I love you." She told me, gazing at me seriously.

"Love you more," I replied, caressing her cheek as Magda rapped on the window, peering into the car with the scowl I had never seen leave her face.

I pulled Isabaue into a long kiss before releasing her, laughing, into Magda's care.

I rolled away feeling much happier than I had for a long, long time, even though I was going to help clean out the Hel-Blar infestation before too much longer.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy

Tuesday, February 3rd

8:45 PM

I threw the vase at the back of Nicholas' head and he whipped around to stare at me as it shattered against the wall. His eyes shimmered silver and he bared his teeth at me.

Deep inside of me, I felt the primitive urge to run, but I gritted my teeth and lifted my chin stubbornly.

"I said no, Lucky," Nicholas said for the millionth time.

I shrieked with frustration. "You do NOT own me, Nicky, so you CANNOT tell me WHAT TO FREAKING DO!"

Nicholas grinned at me savagely, "Yeah, watch me." He charged me suddenly and scooped me up over his shoulder. I screamed at him and used my fists to pound his back as hard as I could. He didn't even twitch. "I'm not sorry about this Lucy," he said, quieter now, "I'm not going to let you go fight Hel-Blar, They'll _kill_ you."

"Oh, and you can't die? Like I can't worry when you are outside _fighting_ them and they could _kill_ you just as easily and then I'd be alone? _Please_! _You can't do that to me again!_ YOU JUST CAN'T!" I stopped shouting, chest heaving with emotion. _God, when did I get so dramatic? Well, if it works…_

Nicholas blinked, looking startled by my outburst. Then his eyes cleared. "I bought you a present," he said suddenly, throwing me off my game a little bit.

"You aren't going to distract me." I said, "what is it?"

He grinned at me brilliantly, causing my breath to catch, just a little bit. "Its in the armory, you're going to _love_ it."

I hugged him, previous anger forgotten, now that I was getting my way. "Did you get me a weapon? Is it Hello Kitty?" I gripped his hand and followed him out of the room.

"Race you," he said suddenly, and let go of my hand.

"What! Oh, that is _so_ not fair!" I shrieked as he darted ahead of me.

I pumped my arms and sprinted after him, flying around the corner just ahead of him. I grinned triumphantly as I sailed across the thresh hold of the armory.

"VICTORY!" I shrieked, I had never won before, but I knew I would eventually, although Nicholas always said I wouldn't ever unless he let me- "Don't you dar-" the heavy door slammed into place and the tumblers clicked into place, locking me inside.

"ARGHGHGHHG!" I screamed incoherently as I pounded on the door with my fists. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" I shrieked.

But I could tell that he was already gone.

I pushed my rage onto the back burner in order to focus on a more pressing concern: how I was going to get out of here. I spun in a circle, looking for any means of escape. No windows, one door, no ventilation system. So the door was my best bet, it locked from the outside, so there was no knob on this side. But was it a deadbolt? I examined the door, yes, it was a deadbolt. Now what?

I walked back to the wall of knives, running my fingers over them as I walked along the rows. There was a little trick Helena had shown me and Solange when we were children, now if I could find one thin enough- ah.

I unsheathed the tiny knife and ran back to the heavy door, slipping the thin blade between the door and the jamb and quickly shimmying it open.

I pocketed a few knives and a canister of pepper spray- pink, of course- and ran down to the tunnels that connected the Drake house to well, pretty much everywhere. If I hurried I should be able to catch up with them with enough time to break Nicky's nose again before the fight started.

I ran through the dank tunnels and ducked through low doorway and around moist corners and … almost ran headfirst into a wall. I spun around _what the hell_? I knew these tunnels, I had spent weeks wondering around in them just so this wouldn't happen. I quickly began to retrace my steps, trying to stem my growing panic.

_Useless._ I leaned against a wall and tried to slow my pants. I was well and truly lost. I admitted defeat and pulled out my cellphone. No bars. _Of course. Stupid, stupid Lucy, you're ten feet underground._

The minutes bled into hours as I soon lost track of time. By now the Drakes should be home. Nicholas would notice I was gone and Solange would figure out where I had gone and they would move heaven and earth to come get me. They could follow my scent and it would be okay, even if they were mad.

_Unless any of them were injured, or worse._

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, telling me that I wasn't alone. I was being watched, I probably had been for a while. _I really needed to convince one of the Drakes to change me so I didn't have to deal with this crap._ I looked around quickly, finally locating a group of vampires approaching me with appraising looks.

I glanced at their clothes and relaxed a bit. They wore the emblem of the Court, which meant that they were sworn to Helena, and as I was an honorary Drake, they were obligated to help me.

I stuck my chin out defiantly, faking a confidence I couldn't seem to find right at this moment. I usually wasn't racist, but these vampires seemed particularly _vampish_ to me, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what was so creepy about them.

_Fake it til you make it, Lucky._ I reminded myself sternly.

"My name is Lucy Hamilton and-"

"We know who you are, Lucky," a vampiress with shark eyes, "how can we be of service?" she forced a thin-lipped smile that wasn't reflected in her eyes.

I thought quickly, I didn't want them to know where the Drakes house was, if they didn't already know, and I wouldn't be able to guide them there anyway. "Court." I said, "I require an escort to Court."

Was the circle tightening? Or was I just nervous? I eyed them, I didn't trust them, my heart was already beating too fast, and they would know. But I didn't see another option, except maybe _rotting in these damn caves._

"Follow us," they urged redundantly as they herded me back through the tunnels.

"We aren't going to court, are we?" I asked gloomily a bit later, the sinking suspicion I had been feeling suddenly feeling more tangible.

"You'll be returned to them as soon as we get what we want," one of them replied with a gruesome parody of a smile.

_Well shit,_ I thought,_ Nicholas is going to kill me._ And then,_ if I'm not already dead._


End file.
